What if she left?
by lbjw0128
Summary: This is a "what if" story. What if Bree didn't fall in love with Diego? What if she didn't have to go to battle to find him? What if she could have followed Fred and lived?
1. Chapter 1

**This is a "what if" story. What if Bree didn't fall in love with Diego? What if she didn't have to go to battle to find him? What if she could have followed Fred and lived?**

**Ok. So this is set right before Riley has the newborns leave for battle. Bree and Diego still have their adventure but she doesn't fall in love with him. I never really like the Bree/Diego thing. Everything else up to this point is the same.**

**Italicized parts are from The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner I wanted the words in the beginning to be right so they are from Stephanie Meyer's book, I do not own them. I also don't own any of the characters, plot, etc.**

**P.S. This is my first fanfiction and I know I am not the best writer, so please read and review! I will take them all to heart!**

_"Riley wont be able to think of me for about twenty minutes or so," Fred told me, his voice casual and familiar, like we'd had a million conversations in the past. "I've been gauging the time. Even a good distance away, he'll feel sick if he tries to remember me." _

_"Really? That's cool." _I'd known he was talented, but I didn't realize how amazing that was until now. I'd been so focused on trying to figure out what was going to happen, I hadn't noticed much about Fred. Now that I think about it, he was pretty amazing. And unbelievably handsome. Not that we all weren't; he was just something more.

I couldn't think about that now. Now I had to focus. We can't go fight. I'm positive that would be a bad idea. Riley lied. _She _lied. And the dark cloaks….I don't even want to think about them.

I turned my attention back to Fred who was smiling. _"I've been practicing, keeping track of the effects. I can make myself totally invisible now. No one can look at me if I don't want them to."_

_"I've noticed," I said, then paused and guessed, "You're not going?"_

_Fred shook his head. "Of course not. It's obvious we're not being told what we need to know. I'm not going to be Riley's pawn."_

So Fred knew too. "There was A LOT we were not being told. Riley lied about more than just the sun thing. There is more than one set of enemies."

_"I'm not surprised," Fred said. "And I'm out. I'm going to explore on my own, see the world. Or I _was_ going on my own, but then I thought maybe you might want to come, too. You'd be pretty safe with me. No one will be able to follow us"_

Wow. It took me a second to process that. Fred cared. I was kind of surprised that he cared so much, and extremely happy to find that he did. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. We had grown to be friends and I had really wanted to talk to him about leaving. I wanted him to be safe. I didn't know why I was so happy that he asked, happy that he wanted me to be with him. My stomach started doing little flips. I just let that go.

But, I couldn't just leave. What about Diego? I have been so worried since he didn't come back with Riley. He and Fred are the only friends I have. I've been having this feeling I couldn't shake, just knowing something bad has happened, despite Riley's story. But I've shied away from those thoughts. Not wanting to really think them through. But, now it hit me.

Diego was dead. He had to be.

I had noticed the change in Riley, noticed his now cold and hardened face. Something happened to him. Now I knew what it was. _She _had killed Diego. He had helped her do it. All this clicked together, and I instinctively knew I was right.

We had to get out of here. Fred and me needed to get somewhere safe. I don't know where we would go, but we would go somewhere and we would be safe. I always felt safe with Fred. I knew he would take care of me. The way he did before with the others.

As soon as I thought that, I realized I wanted to go with Fred. And he wanted me to go with him. The thought made me strangely excited and happy.

"Really?" I asked, smiling.

"Really." He said, smiling back. It was a beautiful smile. There was just something about Fred. The look in his eye… I don't know what it was, but looking into his eyes now, I felt something change. All of a sudden, I knew I would follow him anywhere. I would do anything for him. So suddenly, I'm not really sure what happened, I knew, with every fiber of my being, I loved him.

I just stood there, with a stupid looking smile on my face, just staring at him. He smiled back though. And there was this look in his eyes. A look that said maybe there was a chance that he might like me too.

That was probably just wishful thinking though. I sighed despairingly.

He held out his hand, and I took it. We ran through the forest as far away from the battle as possible. With out looking back.

**Well… What did you think? Love it? Hate it? Comments or suggestions? Review, Review, Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**O.K. Here goes chapter 2! Same story as last time, I do not own Twilight or Short Life of Bree Tanner. Sadly, Stephanie Meyer does.**

**Remember, this is my first story so I would REALLY appreciate any comments, suggestions or concerns! Please review!**

We had been running for a few hours now. Fred was still holding my hand, and I was flying. I felt so safe with him. There was still so much that I didn't understand, but at the moment I just didn't care. I was with Fred and I loved him.

He just didn't know it yet.

"Where are we going?" I ask him, not really caring where, as long as I was with him.

"I don't know," he says, smiling. "It doesn't really matter. As long as we are going away from the fight."

"O.K." I told him, smiling back. We fell back into silence. It wasn't uncomfortable. It was nice, especially after so many nights in the loud basement with the others.

Eventually we came across a town. We still had about an hour before dawn, but we still decided to find a place to hide. Sunlight may not kill us, but we still didn't want to march around in it in front of the humans. If I have learned anything in the short few months of my new life, it's that there is a reason humans don't know about vampires. And there were consequences to those who threaten to expose us.

Again, I think back to that night with Diego; the dark cloaks, their mysterious warning. I did not want to see them again.

We found an abandoned house on the outskirts of the town and settled in for the long day. I watched Fred as he sat down on the dirty couch in what I am assuming was the living room. As I looked at him, I realized, again, just how in love with him I was. How smart and handsome he was. How he protected me and cared for me time and time again. I love him so much.

Suddenly, I was gripped with paralyzing fear. What if he didn't love me? Just the thought had panic and pain ripping through me. My mind rejected the pain. I didn't want to think that. I couldn't think that. Not now. I wanted to tell him. I wanted so bad to sit close to him on the couch and rest my head on his shoulder, enjoying the feeling of safety. But I was too big a coward, too afraid of rejection. It wasn't something that had to be discussed now. It could wait.

I saw him look at me questioningly, probably wondering why I was just standing in the middle of the room with a pained look on my face. I cleared my mind of the pain and put a smile on my face. I followed him to the couch and sat down next to him. Close to him, but not touching. I left an inch of space between us, not wanting to scare him, but not being able to be farther apart from him.

As I sat there, I tried, unsuccessfully, to not think about how close he was, about how easy it would be to reach out and stroke his face. I had to think of something to talk about. We had hours to wait before it would be safe to go outside and run again, but I couldn't think of anything to say. Fred never talked much before, not with the others around. I didn't know if he would want to talk to me, or if he would just sit there in silence like he usually did. I used to not mind it, but now I was looking for anything to distract me from the relentless longing to touch him.

Thankfully, he broke the silence. "So… what you said before, about Riley lying about more than the sun…what did you mean? What did you find out?"

Grateful for the distraction, I told him everything Diego and me found out. I told him about the cave and our experiments with the sun. I told him about following Riley in the woods. I told him about the dark cloaks and their warnings to _her_. He talked too. He told me about what he had discovered, about his plan to leave and his decision to take me with him.

We talked until the sun went down, and it was finally dark enough to start running.

He held my hand again as we left the abandoned house and went off to explore the world.

**Comments about the story? Suggestions on what could be improved? Please tell me! Review, Review, Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here is the final chapter! I hope you enjoy! If you have any comments or suggestions, PLEASE REVIEW!**

We have been doing this for a couple of weeks now. Running by night. Hiding in towns during the day. As we did this, we talked. Not just about what happened. We talked about our lives before; our wants, our fears. We talked about nothing. We talked about everything.

We were somewhere in Northeastern Canada now. We didn't really pay attention to town names. We were just exploring. It was nice; safe.

We stopped in town tonight to hunt. I can go longer now; it's a few days before the burn hits me again. But tonight I needed to hunt.

Hunting with Fred was so much easier than hunting with the others before. He was quiet, resourceful, and smart. We never drew attention to ourselves.

As we went back to our hiding place, an abandoned warehouse this time, I started thinking. Brooding really. I still hadn't told Fred how I feel. I had been trying to make my feelings known, a look here, a small touch there. I don't know if they worked, but it embarrassed me to no end. I knew that couldn't wait any longer. I had to tell him.

I went to sit against the wall, trying to decide how to say it and gather enough courage. Trying to decided what I would do if he rejected me. I didn't think he would. I thought about the way he smiled when he looked at me. That something in his eyes I saw, it looked like love, but it could just be a product of my wishful thinking.

He sat down next to me, a look of determination on his face.

"Bree?"

"Yes," I answer.

"I…" He looked like he was at a loss for words. He just stares into my eyes. The look on his face telling me he had something big he wanted to share. Then he looks down suddenly. He looked kind of…. embarrassed. I was curious as to why.

"Go on," I encourage.

"Bree… I love you."

It took a few moments before I could move, his words shocking me into absolute stillness. I didn't know what to say. He loves me. He really loves me. My heart suddenly swelled up.

When I didn't say anything his face went from anticipation to hurt and despair.

"If you don't love me its ok. I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry. I just couldn't wait any longer. I had to tell you. God, I'm so stupid! I've messed everything up. I should probably just leave. I-"

I cut him off, my moment of shock dissolving into absolute joy. I just couldn't believe he loved me! I needed to tell him something. He was babbling and talking about leaving. I couldn't let him do that.

"Fred!"

"What?" he looks up solemnly and meets my gaze.

"I love you too."

His face breaks out into a smile so dazzling; it would have stopped my heart if it had still been beating. "Really?" he asks, looking hopefully into my eyes.

"Really," I match his smile with my own.

And then he kissed me. A real kiss, my first kiss, filled with such passion and love, the room might possibly been set on fire.

I wouldn't have noticed. Fred loved me. He was mine. And I would be his, forever.

It changed my life. I was born sixteen years ago. I was given a new life as a vampire three months ago. But it wasn't until today, that I finally started living.

**I hope you enjoyed my little story! Remember, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! Thank you! **


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